Petit Family Murders – It’s Now Up To The Jury

Jury instructions from Judge Jon Blue will be completed this morning. As expected the instructions are lengthy because Joshua Komisarjevsky faces 17 counts total, including murder, kidnapping and arson.

Yesterday afternoon, Judge Blue got through 45 of 48 pages of the instructions.

Six of the charges are capital felonies. If found guilty of any of them, jurors will decide if Komisarjevsky should receive the death penalty.

1st Count: Murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and assisting Steven Hayes in causing her death

2nd Count: Murder of Hayley Petit

3rd Count: Murder of Michaela Petit

4th Count: Capital felony with intent to cause the deaths of Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela

5th Count: Capital felony with the death of a person under 16 years old – Michaela

6th Count: Kidnapping in the first degree of Dr. William Petit and restraining him with the intent to commit larceny in the first degree

7th Count: Kidnapping the first degree of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and restraining her with the intent to commit larceny in the first degree

8th Count: Kidnapping in the first degree of Hayley Petit and restraining her with the intent to commit larceny in the first degree

9th Count: Kidnapping in the first degree of Michaela Petit and restraining her with the intent to commit larceny in the first degree

10th Count: Capitol felony: intent to cause the death of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, who he kidnapped, and intentionally aiding Hayes in causing her death during the course of the kidnapping.

11th Count: Capitol felony: intent to cause the death of Hayley Petit, who he kidnapped, and intentionally aiding Hayes in causing her death during the course of the kidnapping.

12th Count: Capitol felony: intent to cause the death of Michaela Petit, who he kidnapped, and intentionally aiding Hayes in causing her death during the course of the kidnapping.

13th Count: Sexual assault in the first degree of Michaela Petit

14th Count: Capital felony: intent to kill Michaela and causing her death in the course of a first-degree sexual assault

15th Count: Burglary in the second degree: entering the home while a person who was not participating in the crime was present with intent to commit larceny in the first-degree

16th Count: Arson in the first degree: intent to destroy or damage the Petit home at 300 Sorghum Mill Drive and starting a fire in the occupied house.

17th Count: Assault in the Second Degree: Intentionally injuring Dr. William Petit with a dangerous instrument

After suffering through an often emotionally painful trial the Petit and Hawke families had more insult added to injury by the defense’s closing arguments.

Defense attorneys, pointing the finger at everyone but their client, said things could have gone very differently if the police had responded quicker. Or if the victims had acted differently.

An obviously upset Petit family spoke outside the courtroom.

“To say that Hayley, had she gotten out of her room and climbed our of her window, the events wouldn’t have taken place; If she had gotten out of her room and Michaela’s room, and gotten out that window, the events wouldn’t have taken place — That’s really stretching, really grasping, delusional actually,” Johanna Chapman, Dr. William Petit’s sister, said.

Dr. Petit said, “I’m perturbed with their closing of their defenses use that Dr. Petit getting out of the basements precipitated things, as if there had been no plan for this for two or three hours or longer or prior to that.”